It's a Stretch
by CustomMagnum
Summary: A Valentine’s day dance, uninterested friends, an overinterested suitor, and comfort for a broken heart. slight IrmaMartin.


It's a Stretch

Disclaimer: W.I.T.C.H. belongs to the Walt Disney company.

.o0o.

It was almost Valentine's Day, the holiday where men and women were supposed to act out all their romantic dreams…

… so why was she the only one of her friends who actually felt like celebrating the damn holiday?

"Come on, you all have boyfriends," Irma began as she and the others were sitting in Will's living room.

"I don't," Matt pointed out. Will was leaning in his chest, the girl's eyes flashing annoyance at her.

"You get the point," Irma whined. "What I want to know is why aren't _any_ of you going to the Valentine's Day dance!"

"Eric and I are going stargazing," Hay Lin answered.

"So you'd rather look at stars than dance?"

Hay Lin nodded.

Irma sighed and turned to Cornelia. "What's your excuse?"

"My boyfriend lives in another dimension with a different lovefest holiday, we celebrated that two weeks ago," the earth guardian answered. "I'm not in the mood to celebrate another one again this soon."

"Also, Caleb's supposed to be in another country, how is he supposed to get here from unidentified country A just for a Valentine's Day dance," Taranee pointed out.

"Fine, I get that, but why aren't you going?" Irma crossed her arms, a frown on her face.

"I'm not going to any party where my mother is a chaperone."

Well, that was the end of that anyway. Irma turned back to Will and Matt, who were still cuddling on the couch. "Now what's keeping you two?"

"Too cold to go back to school twice in one day," Will answered.

"That is so a lie!" Irma shouted.

Matt laughed, sneaking a glance at Will. "She's got you there, told you she wouldn't believe that."

So they were conspiring against her, to make sure she was completely without friends at the dance? But why? "So what's the real reason?"

"We're going to stay here and make fun of bad films until Ms. Vandom kicks me out," Matt answered.

Irma palmed her face. Her friends were unbelievable. What sane teenage girl with a boyfriend would pass over a chance to have fun at a Valentine's Day dance?

"Me," Taranee answered.

Irma glared at her.

"You were broadcasting," Taranee said defensively. "Anyone with telepathy could've picked up on that."

Irma glared some more. Broadcasting her ass! Really, she was perfectly capable of not shouting out her thoughts, thank you very much!.

'_Actually, you're not,'_ Taranee's voice rang through her head.

Irma was definitely not a pink perky poopy pumpkin.

Taranee blinked, looking completely confused. Irma smirked. That would teach the fire guardian to stay out of her mind.

.o0o.

The next day at school, the Valentine's Day dance was the only thing that the female population of Sheffield Institute could talk about. Most of the male population was also focused on the dance, or in some cases what they hoped for after it.

Irma made her on-air announcement with all the fake joy that she could muster, but she knew that the dance wasn't going to be as fun with her being the only member of W.I.T.C.H. there. It would also be positively painful without a date, but Andrew Hornby had yet to ask her to the dance…

"Hey Irma!"

And Martin had asked her far too many times for her to be comfortable. "What is it Martin?"

"Well, I was wondering…"

"No." Irma knew that no matter how desperate she was for a date, there was no way in hell she could actually say yes to him. If she did, he would assume that she was actually interested in him.

Like there was anyway for that to happen.

"You haven't even heard what I wanted to ask yet!" Martin said.

"I'm not going to the dance with you," Irma answered. "I actually had someone else in mind."

"Oh." Irma grabbed her books and turned to look away from him. If she looked at him, the look one his face might lead her to make a mistake.

"Look Martin, you're a good friend, but that's it."

She walked over to the door. "That's better than nothing, I guess," She heard him whisper. She stopped. "But do you really think that Andrew's going to ask you this close to the dance?"

Irma felt her teeth clench and she could feel the scowl on her face. She took a deep breath, and reminded herself that Martin had some right to be bitter.

She was crushing on someone who barely showed any interest in her, after all.

The bell screeched suddenly, and Irma relaxed a bit. "We need to get to class," she said, before she walked through the door, her heart feeling heavy in her chest.

Which class did she have next anyway? Right, History, with Will's mother's boyfriend. Did he and Will's mother have any plans for today?

Irma shuddered at the thoughts that suddenly jumped into her mind. She really hoped that thought stayed out of her mind forever. She repeated that she needed to get to class as fast as possible.

She darted through the hallways, wading through the sea of couples. She was pretty close to her class when she saw something that made her legs turn to ice.

Andrew was slammed into a locker, his lips locked with… oh god, was he kissing one of the Grumpers?

Irma could feel her stomach flip around, acid, bile, and whatever she ate for breakfast shooting up through her throat. She brought her hand up to her face to keep from gagging, only managing to somehow keep her books from falling to the ground. She could feel her blood rushing through her body.

Nearby, a water fountain imploded, sending drops of water spurting through the hallway.

She didn't know if that distracted Andrew or not, she had already darted through the door into the classroom.

.o0o.

It turned out that school was let out early, which made sense, exploding water fountains weren't exactly the norm after all.

The group was once again back at Will's apartment, only this time the look the others were giving her weren't annoyance.

It was anger.

"Are you an idiot!?" Will shouted. "What possessed you to blow up a water fountain!? You catch Andrew making out with his girlfriend and you take it out on school property!? You could've blown our secret to pieces!"

Irma's fists clenched. "Sorry for not knowing that disgust could set off my powers," she spat.

"Disgust," Cornelia repeated. "Are you sure that's all you felt? If I saw Caleb making out with another girl I'd be furious."

She was pretty sure. She wasn't Cornelia, and more importantly… "There's one difference in this case. Andrew isn't my boyfriend."

"That's not the point," Taranee said. Irma glanced over at her and the others, and was relieved to see the anger disappear. "Remember when Nerissa did that whole glamour thing. You were pretty pissed about Andrew and Martin being all gaga over her."

"They were being forced against their will!" Irma shouted. "It's completely different if he actually wants that!" She felt like there was a large lump dropping from her chest straight down to her stomach. She shook her head. "Look, I already feel terrible about everything, I just need to go back home and sleep for a bit." Or vomit, but she was trying to keep her disgust levels down, the last thing anyone needed was for her to blow up a sink or something. Irma grabbed her coat, said goodbye, and walked out the door.

None of the others tried to stop her, which was just fine. They probably weren't angry with her anymore anyway. Besides, even if they were it wasn't like she deserved it, any problem she had with her powers should've been solved when they first got increased after the veil was lifted.

Although it was winter and cold, there was no snow blanketing the streets. Turns out that "cold" and "below water's freezing point" were two different things. She frowned. She loved the snow, and it being there would've cheered her up a bit. It wasn't that far a walk back to her home, since she had nothing to do.

There was no way the Valentine's Day dance could happen now, especially since the school was closed due to exploding water pipes and it would take at least a few days to be able to determine if the pipes were safe. At least she didn't have to show up without a date.

She kept walking, not really paying much attention to where she was going. That probably wasn't such a good idea, at least that's what the crashing into another person suggested at any rate.

Irma managed to stand up straight, although the guy she ran into nearly tripped over her.

"Are you alright Irma?" Martin asked.

Of course she just _had_ to run into him. "I'm fine," she said more bitterly than she intended. She tried to avoid looking at him; she didn't need another attempt at asking her out right now.

The glimpse of Martin's face that she actually got was kinda weird, and made her actually turn her attention back at him. He didn't look hurt or anything, which she guessed meant she didn't seem as angry to him as she thought she did.

Martin looked like he realized something. "It's hard, seeing the person you care about with someone else," Martin said. "Sometimes it can make someone so angry that they're scared of what they could do."

Irma's fists clenched; and she could feel her nails digging into the palms of her hands. The thing was, as much as she didn't want to admit it, he was right. She might've said to her friends that she wasn't angry. It wasn't that Andrew had chosen someone else, but she lost to a _Grumper_…

…and she just realized that Martin was speaking from experience. But he didn't have it as bad as she did. At least _he_ lost to someone much better looking and cooler than he was... which now that she thought about it, didn't seem much better at all.

She had a better chance at Andrew noticing her over that Grumper than Martin could hope for her to notice him over Andrew.

How often did Martin feel the way that she did now? She'd been rejecting him for _years_ now, yet he kept trying anyway. Should she keep trying to get Andrew to notice her?

Martin turned around, and she knew that there was something that she needed to know. "How do you do it?'

"Do what?" he asked, not turning around.

Irma bit her lip. "How do you face the person you like when you know they aren't interested in you?"

Martin sighed. "It's hard," he admitted, "but one thing that always helps is realize that you aren't even fifteen yet, and that there is still time. It's a stretch, but knowing that there's still a chance over time can help keep you going."

Irma was speechless.

Martin turned around to look at her. "Did that help?"

She nodded, and was surprised to find that she actually meant it.

"I guess I'll be going then," Martin said as he turned and started walking away.

Irma shivered and suddenly felt much colder than she did before as the boy kept walking. She wanted to say something, anything, to keep him there with her a little longer.

But she kept silent as he walked out of view, and she had to wonder how Martin could possibly stand her after how many times she rejected him.


End file.
